A current practice of property owners in Burns Lake is putting a significant strain on the village's budget.
According to a report from village staff presented to council on Jan. 27, 2015, snow removed from private properties in Burns Lake and pushed onto village properties has resulted in the narrowing of lanes and streets.
"Public and businesses complain about dangerous travel and parking conditions as public works crews struggle to keep up with the snow," read the report.
After the last major snowfall in early January, the village hired a contractor to accommodate all the extra snow piled on village property for two days, costing an extra $2030.
In fact, the practice of pushing snow onto village property is on the increase, says the report, and the result is an increase in budget requirements for snow removal.
"If this practice of pushing snow onto village property were allowed to continue, the budget would need to be increased by 10 per cent based on average snowfall," stated the report.
Since current snow and sanding budget for the village of Burns Lake is $71,000, that increase would mean an addition of $7100 to the budget.
"To accommodate the additional funds required to implement the increase, we need to consider removing capital projects or increase taxes by approximately 0.5 per cent," read the report. "Sanding budgets are not sufficient to cover private and commercial properties."
According to village staff, there have been significant efforts from the village to advice businesses about their snow removal practices.
"Nine letters were written recently and given to the businesses conducting snow removal in this manner asking them to advise their contractors to stop and either stockpile their snow on site or have it hauled to another location," read the report.
A bylaw from 1981 - the Traffic Regulations Bylaw number 483 - prohibits the disposal of snow from private properties on village streets. However, the current bylaw needs to be updated to reflect current costs and realities.
During the Jan. 27 meeting, council directed staff to update the 1981 bylaw with current pricing and rules that conform to today's realities and begin enforcing penalties.
Staff will compare notes with other nearby municipalities to find best practices, and then come back to council with a report regarding the updated bylaw. Then council can choose to approve it, or not. Since a bylaw cannot be approved in a single meeting, it will be at least Feb. 24, 2015, before the updated bylaw is adopted.